Fisherman rescued following overnight ordeal on upturned boat

Photo: WA police pluck a man from the ocean after he spent more than 24-hours clinging to his boat in waters south of Perth.

Surf Life Saving WA

A man who spent the night clinging to his overturned boat in waters south of Perth has now been rescued.

The 50-year-old Ballajura man set out Tuesday morning off the coast of Falcon. He had gone out with his dog to pull in his cray pots when his boat overturned. His neighbour reported him missing this morning.

Police say they found his car and boat trailer at the Falcon boat ramp, and a search was launched.
As that occurred, an EPIRB was activated by the man.

Water Police, the Mandurah Water Rescue Group and the Surf Life Saving helicopter were sent out and the upturned aluminium dinghy was spotted from the air about 16-kilometres west of Mandurah.

Senior Constable Ian Davison says the man, who was rescued late this morning, was in reasonably good health. 'For a man who'd been in the water overnight, with the weather conditions we had overnight, he's actually surprisingly fit and well,' he said. 'But nonetheless the ambulance crew was concerned about his body temperature and they've taken him to hospital just to check that he's ok.'

The man's Rottweiler died a short time before he was picked up. It is the second major rescue off Perth in a week.